Ringwood Government

Borough of Ringwood60 Margaret King DriveRingwood, NJ 07456

Office hours: Mondays - Fridays 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Ringwood is governed under the New Jersey Optional Municipal Charter Law (N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 et seq., P.L. 1950, c.210) known as the Faulkner Act. The Faulkner Act has four optional plans: mayor-council, council-manager, small municipality and mayor-council-administrator. The Borough of Ringwood’s operates under the Council-Manager (Faulkner Plan E) form of government (N.J.S.A. 40:69A-81 – 98).

In the Council-Manager form there is only one directly elected power center – the Council. The Council are policymakers for the Borough. The Manager while chief executive and administrative officer of the municipality, is appointed by the Council and can be suspended and removed by the majority vote of the Council. The Manager’s function is to carry out the will of the Council.

Manager

The Manager has the following functions:

Chief executive and administrative officer of the Borough

Appoints and removes all department heads and all other officers and employees, except for the Municipal Clerk, Tax Assessor, Borough Engineer and Attorney positions

Investigates any officer or department of the Borough

Participates in all meetings of the Council, takes part in the discussion, makes recommendations to the Council but does not have a vote

Negotiates contracts for the Borough, subject to Council approval

Prepares the municipal budget and advises Council as to financial condition of the Borough

Makes an annual report to the Council

Mayor & Council

The Council Members are elected in partisan election as part of the November election to serve four-year terms on a staggered basis. The election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor by the Council is conducted during the Reorganization Meeting held within the first seven days of January each year.

The duties of the Mayor in this form of government are to preside over the Council and voice and vote in its proceedings. The Mayor in this form of government has no executive powers; the Mayor is simply the primus inter pares – first among equals on the Council.

Council Business Meetings are held the third Tuesday of each month at 8:00 pm unless otherwise noted on the 2017 Annual Council Meeting Notice. The public is encouraged to attend and comments from the public are made during the General Public Portion of each meeting.

The Borough Council conducts business pertaining to financial matters affecting the operation of the Borough, appropriating money and approving expenditures as well as passing laws of the Borough called ordinances. Ordinances are discussed and then introduced at a public meeting. The Borough Clerk then publishes the ordinance in the official newspaper of the municipality under “Public Notices” as well as under “Public Notices” on the Borough website. This alerts the public to the action being considered by the Borough Council and includes the date, time and place of the public hearing at which time the public can ask questions and offer comments on the ordinance. Following the public hearing, the Borough Council votes to adopt the ordinance and it becomes law.

If you wish to contact the Borough Council, you may do so by sending a letter to the Borough Council, in care of the Borough Clerk, 60 Margaret King Avenue, Ringwood, NJ 07456. Your correspondence will be distributed to the Council as well as the Borough Manager for follow up.